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min answer › date of answer

2019-05-14

legislature › pref label

House of Lords

answering dept sort name

Home Office

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To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the
use of drones on increasing the effectiveness of countering terrorism, piracy, kidnappings
and other offences combatted by surveillance technologies.

<p>The UK is a world-leader in the fight to stamp out the brutal practice of forced
marriage, with our joint Home Office and Foreign and Commonwealth Office Forced Marriage
Unit (FMU) which leads efforts to combat it both at home and abroad. We made forced
marriage a criminal offence in 2014 to better protect victims and send a clear message
that this abhorrent practice is totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated in
the UK.</p><p>The joint Foreign &amp; Commonwealth Office and Home Office Forced Marriage
Unit (FMU) operates a public helpline to provide advice and support to victims, those
at risk, and professionals. Statistics on the number of cases dealt with by the FMU,
including a breakdown by region and age, are published annually and available online
at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/forced-marriage#statistics-on-forced-marriage"
target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/guidance/forced-marriage#statistics-on-forced-marriage</a></p><p>Figures
for 2018 will be published soon.</p>

<p>Statistics on the number of cases dealt with by the Forced Marriage Unit (FMU),
including a breakdown by region and age, are published annually and available online
at<a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/forced-marriage#statistics-on-forced-marriage"
target="_blank"> https://www.gov.uk/guidance/forced-marriage#statistics-on-forced-marriage</a></p><p>Figures
for 2018 were published on 24 May. In 2018, the FMU gave advice or support related
to a possible forced marriage in 1,764 cases via its public helpline and email inbox.</p>

<p>On 16 July we introduced our landmark Domestic Abuse Bill to parliament, setting
out our intention to transform the response to domestic abuse. Our Domestic Abuse
Bill and wider action plan will help to ensure that victims have the confidence to
come forward and report their experience, safe in the knowledge that the justice system
and other agencies will do everything they can both to protect and support them and
their children and pursue their abuser.</p><p>We will consider the findings of the
report. Whether it takes place in our rural communities or cities, we are supporting
Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners, so they can deploy resources
as they best see fit to tackle crime, including domestic abuse.</p><p>The new Domestic
Abuse Commissioner will play an important role in monitoring the provision of services
for victims of domestic abuse, including those in rural communities.</p>

To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the status of the guidance issued on 3 April
to all local authorities and health and social care trusts in regard to the EU Settlement
Scheme and looked-after children and care leavers; and whether it is mandatory for
local authorities to follow that guidance.

<p>The guidance pack issued to local authorities in England, Wales and Scotland and
to Health and Social Care Trusts in Northern Ireland on 3 April is not statutory guidance.
The pack puts together in one place, information readily available on gov.uk to provide
a useful tool for front line local authority and HSCT staff tasked with supporting
looked after children and care leavers. The Children Act 1989 provides the legal framework
for local authorities to promote the a child’s welfare and best interests, setting
out statutory duties in relation to looked after children in England, with respective
authorities for the devolved administrations. Statutory guidance is provided by DfE
in relation to this. This statutory duty to promote best interests, coupled with funding
provided to local authorities under a new burdens assessment should en-sure that this
important work will be done.</p><p>During a private trial phase of testing five local
authorities were asked for detailed information on the children in their care eligible
to apply to the EUSS, including what ID evidence they had access to and family situations
in order to ascertain difficulties in obtaining identity documents.</p><p>The participating
local authorities, along with the seven other community organisations participating
in the trial phase provided detailed feedback on challenges they encountered during
the test phase, which was considered before drafting the guidance. The new burdens
assessment takes into account work required to identify the cohort of eligible children
as well as work needed to undertake the EUSS application process itself.</p><p>Organisations
awarded grant funding are required to submit monitoring reports to the Home Office
and this content will be used to assess of the grant funding. Grant funded organisations
will be reporting on the number of vulnerable people they have supported to make applications
and this will assist in determining what future support is required after March 2020.</p>

To ask Her Majesty's Government what evidence was collected on the children who were
non-UK European nationals accommodated under section 20 of the Children Act 1989,
their family situations and possible vulnerabilities, before drafting the guidance
on EU Settlement Scheme and looked-after children and care leavers issued on 3 April.

<p>The guidance pack issued to local authorities in England, Wales and Scotland and
to Health and Social Care Trusts in Northern Ireland on 3 April is not statutory guidance.
The pack puts together in one place, information readily available on gov.uk to provide
a useful tool for front line local authority and HSCT staff tasked with supporting
looked after children and care leavers. The Children Act 1989 provides the legal framework
for local authorities to promote the a child’s welfare and best interests, setting
out statutory duties in relation to looked after children in England, with respective
authorities for the devolved administrations. Statutory guidance is provided by DfE
in relation to this. This statutory duty to promote best interests, coupled with funding
provided to local authorities under a new burdens assessment should en-sure that this
important work will be done.</p><p>During a private trial phase of testing five local
authorities were asked for detailed information on the children in their care eligible
to apply to the EUSS, including what ID evidence they had access to and family situations
in order to ascertain difficulties in obtaining identity documents.</p><p>The participating
local authorities, along with the seven other community organisations participating
in the trial phase provided detailed feedback on challenges they encountered during
the test phase, which was considered before drafting the guidance. The new burdens
assessment takes into account work required to identify the cohort of eligible children
as well as work needed to undertake the EUSS application process itself.</p><p>Organisations
awarded grant funding are required to submit monitoring reports to the Home Office
and this content will be used to assess of the grant funding. Grant funded organisations
will be reporting on the number of vulnerable people they have supported to make applications
and this will assist in determining what future support is required after March 2020.</p>

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to evaluate the impact of the
funding of support and its provision to vulnerable groups, including analysis of what
future work is needed to ensure that vulnerable groups are able to apply to the EU
Settlement Scheme after funding ends in March 2020.

<p>The guidance pack issued to local authorities in England, Wales and Scotland and
to Health and Social Care Trusts in Northern Ireland on 3 April is not statutory guidance.
The pack puts together in one place, information readily available on gov.uk to provide
a useful tool for front line local authority and HSCT staff tasked with supporting
looked after children and care leavers. The Children Act 1989 provides the legal framework
for local authorities to promote the a child’s welfare and best interests, setting
out statutory duties in relation to looked after children in England, with respective
authorities for the devolved administrations. Statutory guidance is provided by DfE
in relation to this. This statutory duty to promote best interests, coupled with funding
provided to local authorities under a new burdens assessment should en-sure that this
important work will be done.</p><p>During a private trial phase of testing five local
authorities were asked for detailed information on the children in their care eligible
to apply to the EUSS, including what ID evidence they had access to and family situations
in order to ascertain difficulties in obtaining identity documents.</p><p>The participating
local authorities, along with the seven other community organisations participating
in the trial phase provided detailed feedback on challenges they encountered during
the test phase, which was considered before drafting the guidance. The new burdens
assessment takes into account work required to identify the cohort of eligible children
as well as work needed to undertake the EUSS application process itself.</p><p>Organisations
awarded grant funding are required to submit monitoring reports to the Home Office
and this content will be used to assess of the grant funding. Grant funded organisations
will be reporting on the number of vulnerable people they have supported to make applications
and this will assist in determining what future support is required after March 2020.</p>

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford
on 23 July (HL Deb, cols 668–70), how many children have been affected by having no
recourse to public funds in each of the 54 local authorities; and what estimate they
have made of the total number of children so affected.

<p>There are no official figures for the number of cases subject to no recourse to
public funds restrictions. Families including children may be subject to such restrictions
as a consequence of their immigration status where they have been granted temporary
leave to remain, or where they require leave but do not have it. The expectation is
that the majority of people granted time-limited leave under the Immigration Rules,
including those entering as visitors, workers, students and those on the path to settlement,
will support themselves without placing pressures on taxpayers.</p><p>Families granted
time-limited leave in the family and private life route can request the Home Office
to lift conditions restricting access to public funds to avoid destitution. The Home
Office provides support to asylum seekers and works closely with local authorities
operating duties to support those with community care needs, including families with
children.</p>

<p>The Government defines persecution as an act that is sufficient serious in nature
and repetition as to constitute a severe violation of basic human rights. Such acts
could be perpetrated against individuals or groups of people.</p><p>The definition
is contained in the Refugee or Person in Need of International Protection (Qualification)
Regulations 2006, which reflect the Refugee Convention and EU law.</p><p>We support
those who have suffered persecution by providing a place of safety for refugees through
our resettlement schemes and the in-country asylum process.</p>